Thursday Morning; Standley Lake Park

I was glad I was able to head out early yesterday morning. There was a hint of frost in the dew on my windshield as I started out, and the day dawned clear and bright. I was hoping for shorebirds or some migrant to come my way, but was happy to settle for some common residents instead.


The Great Blue Heron that was waiting on the shore when I arrived waited patiently as I made a wide circle around 'its' cove.


Between the colors, soft light, and rising mist I was thrilled to have a natural start to my day.


A heron, standing in an orange-mist at the water's edge - felt almost prehistoric.


Then, while I sat silently so as to not disturb the Grebes or Heron, a Mallard swam up to within three feet of me looking for a handout I guess. I suppose my lack of response was a disappointment, and the duck continued along its shoreline route.


Finally, on my way out of the park I stopped at the generally productive trees near the boat parking area, and had a good mix of local birds. Again, nothing unusual, but a fun mix in good light. This time represented by a Western Wood Pewee. Reluctantly I had to drop the truck into gear and head on into the office, but the park will be there the next time I have a chance to get away early.

Florida Birding; May 5th, Part 4

A few odds and ends...

Great Blue Heron


Northern Mockingbird


Barn Swallows


flying


With that Cinco de Mayo is in the books.


Stay tuned though, the following day involved a beach walk in the morning, a trip into the park itself later in the morning, and a brief visit to a wooded park in the mid-afternoon. Lots of pictures to share from that, if I can ever get them processed.

When Good Birds Go Bad

Fishermen watch your bait! Just flipping through few pics after getting back from Florida. I've got lists to update and pictures to process, but will try to get a few posts up along the way.

Tic-Toc

In 24 hours I will hopefully be minutes from departure. I am off for adventure with a couple of old school buddies, to explore a new locale and escape the reminders that Colorado keeps throwing out that winter isn't that far gone. So in the meantime a few more shots from Sunday. Nothing new from yesterday, I ran a couple of errands and moved 96Gb of pictures, (the first 1/3 of 2011), to external storage freeing up some space on the ol' laptop. The first shot (above) is a Northern Rough-winged Swallow. Not a particularly well lit shot, but finding one perched as opposed to zooming around above a lake was worth noting. NRWS show that buffy arc across the top of their breast, which can also be a good field mark when looking at rows of swallows on power lines.


While looking for shorebirds at the edge of one pond, a bird decided I had gotten too close and took off across the water.

I just had to head along the bank to make sure the large bird that had just flown quietly away was what I suspected it to have been.


A Great Horned Owl. I backtracked, as I intended to take a different route through the maze of small ponds and having confirmed its identity I was content to leave the owl in peace rather than risking flushing it once again.

A lone Great Egret had set up shop in a pond which I was gradually working my way around. I believe that this was the same bird that had started my morning with a flyover as I parked.


Further along I heard dull tapping coming from a tree. I paused, and quickly realized that it was the sound of a woodpecker excavating a nest cavity. I circled the tree until I found the hole, and then waited....


Northern Flicker, maker of holes.

One of my real highlights from Sunday was this sight, Wood Ducks in the woods. After seeing the Wood Ducks last week in Wheat Ridge I had been hoping to find some roosting, and finally got the chance. They moved deeper into the trees when a nice couple walked up to me with their dog, but I got to follow their progress through two more flights.


Finally, a Great Blue Heron for kicks.


I had a great series of this bird taking off. Unfortunately I was aiming somewhat into the poor light, but fun to see them in their breeding finery.

So now I am back to watching the clock and ready for travel. My hotel will be a few minutes walk from a National Seashore, so I hope to get my bird on in the early part of the day, and my chill-axin' tourist on in the afternoon and evening. I already know the trip will be fun, and my first visit to a shoreline since beginning birding has my mind spinning with the new species I may get to see and photograph.

A Hawk Hour

Yesterday, Lunch. A strong wind was blowing in a front, and for a bit of shelter I decided to walk , the section of Big Dry Creek trail immediately west of Wadsworth Blvd. Despite the drawbacks of wind, there is a benefit, hawks can easily hang motionless in the air for photographs. A group of three Swainson's Hawks did just that, putting on a show for me and allowing me my first photographs of the season.


A young Red-tailed Hawk was not happy about the display, and voiced its displeasure from a perch in the cottonwoods along the creek. All it was trying to do was mind its own business and figure out what would make suitable prey. This Great Blue Heron was too big, but it did make an unsuccessful pass at a Mallard after the Swainson's had departed.


Returning to a different perch bought some new trouble though. A pair of American Kestrels decided that they didn't like the Red-tail on their turf, so a session of dive bombing commenced. I couldn't capture them, but the Red-tail's reaction tells the story.


Check out that lower left leg though, this bird has been banded! I wasn't able to see any markings on my images, but may see if the bird sticks around for another shot.


The front brought cold and varying amounts of snow to the front range overnight, and clear skies with colder, stronger wind this morning. More on that in later posts, but I will be ready for an out of state (and hopefully much warmer) trip starting the middle of this week. Stay tuned....

Lunchtime Looks

Lunchtime yesterday was beautiful, mild and sunny, without too much wind. The area Bald Eagle was out to prove that you can keep the people away from the Eagles, but you can't keep the Eagles away from the people.


The Bald gave me a close look as it made a lazy circle in the sky. It was checking me out as it flew straight overhead. I am sure in my white button down shirt I was quite a sight standing in the middle of a brown grassy field. Just goes to show that you don't have to have special equipment or gear to have random interactions with cool birds. Sometimes sticking out like a sore thumb helps.


It didn't help when a fleeting glance I had at a bird that may have been a Green-tailed Towhee was the only one I got. Shy birds were headed for deep cover when I headed their way.


It wasn't all bad though, I headed to the edge of the dam, and while scanning for shorebirds found a nice group of Vesper Sparrows instead. They were the first I have seen of that species this year. A FOY (first of year) bird on a casual lunch break, not too shabby.


An eye level flyby from a Great Blue Heron is cool, even if it is taken while facing into the sun. A less focused shot had it hanging its tongue out of its mouth a la Michael Jordan, but I'll stick with what I got.

As of yesterday's lunch my counts were:

2011 Count: 91
Lifetime: 252

but there will be more to add after I update my list from last evening...

Standley Lake - a few changes

There is a nice silver lining to taking a few weeks away from the back of the camera - things change. Specifically, the rookery at Standley Lake Park is now a happening hot spot. Although, April being April, these Great Blue Herons were taking shelter from the wind where they could find it.


Still, the nests are filling up...


...and the strong breeze made capturing some approach flights possible. Despite tough midday lighting it was good to be out.

I even spotted some unusual grebes out on the glittering lake surface.



Tough shots, and from that vanatage I can't determine if those were Horned or Eared Grebes; thanks to Daniel McAdams for the Horned Grebe confirmation. Maybe I'll try to track them down tomorrow early in the morning, although with a big lake refinding anything is iffy at best.

A Few More Pics from St. Vrain SP

A few more random pics from my visit to Saint Vrain State Park on Monday afternoon.

Killdeer on the wing:



Savannah Sparrow:




Teal; both Cinnamon and Blue-winged:



Great-tailed Grackle:

The hint of light-blue iridescence on the wing coverts was cool to capture.

Horned Lark:

Great Blue Heron:

Mourning Dove, showing the fainest hint of green iridescence:

Going to look for some spring arrivals around Broomfield this evening, then a late NHL Playoff game will make my plans for an early visit to the nesting owls a long shot, but who knows it may still happen.

A post that falls more to the artistic side of the scale than most of my shots do. Well, the Ring-necked Ducks above are just a good exposure showing their patterned bills and side coloration. The shot below though really struck me as the sun was dipping. A swimming rodent, either a muskrat or beaver appeared to be pushing something through the water, causing an extra wide wake and made for a really intriguing sight.

I also happened back towards the Great Blue Heron rookery and caught a couple of approach flights back-lit in the fading light.

It was one of the most quiet visits I have made to the Walden & Sawhill Ponds complex in Boulder. Usually this place serves up 25 plus species in just a few hours and without much effort. Yesterday, the most common sound was the welcome croaking of frogs. The Cottonwood Marsh pond, which was low last year and featured vast mudflats is now full and was packed with a good variety of ducks, but many of the smaller ponds and the woodlots were quiet.

Even so I had a great 4.5 mile walk and as always enjoyed my time there. It is such a large, segmented area that it is possible to go long periods without seeing another hiker, even as aircraft take off from the local airport with gliders in tow just over the treetops. Soon the ponds and trees will be full of migrants arriving or passing through. So perhaps it was good to have an afternoon to just soak up the environment.

Warmer Temps and a Hint of Variety

While checking out the South Boulder Creek Trail at lunch today I did see a Red-tailed Hawk, (I would have been alarmed if I hadn't at this point), but I was fortunate to see a bit of a mix as well. The Great Blue Heron above was cutting behind a tree, but the more overcast sky did more to accent the longer white feathers on the breast.

I had a good long look at two American Tree Sparrows who were eating seeds near some scrubby brush. The breast spot, pronounced white wingbars, and white edging on the tail all help to identify this species as compared to a Chipping or other sparrow.

Another pair of solid field marks, if they can be seen, are the bi-color bill, and rufous eye-line. Note the yellow on the bottom half of the bill, and the closer view of the face below.

I find that in the field the facial differences between the two are tough to distinguish as they bounce around in heavy cover. Perhaps the easiest way to keep the two similar species straight in Colorado is to remember that the Chipping Sparrow breeds here in the summer, and the American Tree Sparrow has returned to its wintering grounds from the far north.

As always the colors of an American Kestrel are a good sight on returning to the parking lot.

Have a safe and fun weekend, I am off to a CFO (Colorado Field Ornithologists) trip at Chatfield tomorrow, and may try to get up to Ft. Collins to try to find the White-winged Crossbills Sunday. They were confirmed still in the area today, so we'll see.